Seal-lock.



No. 634,4u. Patented o'c. 3, meis?.` i`

.1. H. HARVEY.

SEAL LOCK.

(Application led Dec. 30, 189B.)

(llo Nudel.)

JOI-IN HARVEY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

SEAL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 634,411, dated October 3, 1,899.

Application filed December 30, 1898. Serial No. 700|743 (N0 mfel.)

To colt whom, t 'Htc/,y concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN H. HARVEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of W'ayne'and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks, of which the following is a specification, reference heilig had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention has general reference to locks, and relates particularly to a seal-lock especially adapted for use in connection .with freight-cars, mail-bags, and the like during transportation.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a lock of the type referred to of such peculiar construction that when the same is applied to a car-door or like device it will be permanently locked thereto, requiring the breakage of the lock proper or of the hasp or staple on the door before the latter can be opened, whereby any fraudulent access to the car or to the interior of the article locked would be unmistakably shown.

A further object of my invention is to pro-Y vide means whereby the lock if tampered with will be more securely fastened to the article to which it is applied.

With these objects in View my invention consists in the peculiar construction of a seallock and in the novel arrangement and combination of the various parts, as will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure lis a vertical central section of my improved lock in readiness to be applied to a door or mail-bag. Fig. 2 is a similar section through the lock, showing the same applied to a door, the hasp and staple of the latter being likewise shown in section. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lock, the relative arrangement of the parts being the same as in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4, a perspective viewillustratinlg the mannerof disengaging the lock from the article to which it is affixed.

In Fig. l the reference-letter A designates a yoke-shaped body provided with the complementary arm members B and C. The lower part of the body is provided with the reduced portions d b and intermediate these portions with an enlarged diamond-shaped portion c, perforated at d for the purpose hereinafter set forth. In the upper portion of the arm member C is formed an aperture d, which extends entirely through said arm, as plainly shown in the iigure referred to. In the arm B is formed a socket or recess e, which registers with the aperture in the arm member C. Extending through the aperture and engaging in the recess e is a bolt D, which is adapted to span the opening between the arms and to engage the staple E upon the article that is to be locked, as shown in Fig. 3.

The means for locking the bolt within the arm members of the yoke-shaped body are of the following construction: In the top of the arm member C is formed a recess f at right angles to the aperture d, said recess extending through the aperture formed in said arm and beyond the same some little distance. In this recess is located a spring-impelled locking-pin F, which normally is adapted to extend within the aperture d some considerable distance in the path of the bolt D and which is prevented from wholly escaping into said aperture by being formed of a length that will allow of its projection only partly into the aperture when the spring is not under compression. The bolt D in turn is provided with the pointed end g and with a reduced portion h, preferably circular in crosssection, at the other end thereof.

In assembling the parts the bolt D is arranged within the aperture d, as shown in Fig. 1, said bolt normally compressing the spring-impelled locking-pin F. The yokeshaped body is then arranged in such manner as to embrace the staple E, which extends through the hasp Gin the usual manner. The bolt is forced through the aperture d, the staple E, and into the recess e until the bolthead extends within the said aperture or is iiush with the face of the arm member O. As soon as the reduced portion h upon the bolt registers with the locking-pin F the latter moves into engagement with the reduced portion, thus preventing further endwise movement of the locking-pin in either direction.

The reference-letter H designates a plug, which is itted into the recess f after the lock-pin has been arranged therein. This plug is provided with a slight taper corresponding to a similar taper formed in the recess in which it is located Yand is of such a length that if the same be driven in after the IOO paris are in theirlocked position for the purpose of breaking the reduced portion of the bolt D the spring-impelled lookingpin F would reach the limit ofits movement before said plug would leave the recess in the arm C above the aperture d. The reduced portion of the bolt is formed circular in crosssection, so that said bolt may be freely and completely rotated in either direction without interfering with the action of the lockingpin F. By this method of construction it will be readily observed from the foregoing description of my improved lock that if the plug 1I is tampered with it will more secu rely fasten the parts of the lock together.

In order to disengage the lock from the article to which it is applied, I have provided means,as above referred to,whereby the body of the lock may be readily broken by the stroke of a hammer or similar instrument, the body being adapted to break at either of the reduced portions Ct or b.

It will thus be observed that I have provided means for locking a ear-door, Inailbag, or similar device in such manner that any effort to tamper with the lock will bereadily discerned, as in order to obtain access to the interior of the locked article the seallock must necessarily be broken or the parts to which the lock is directly applied.

As a further safeguard to prevent the fraudulent substitution of a new lock for the one broken a lead plug c is shown in cross-section in Figs. l and 2 iixedly secured within the aperture d in the body at the time the lock is manufactured. When the operator locks the ear or the article that is to be closed, his seal may be stamped upon the plug, and as said plug cannot be removed from the aperture without defacing the seal the desired object is attained.

IVhat I claim as my invention isl. In a seal-lock, the combination ofa yokeshaped body having an aperture extending through one of its arm members, and a recess formed in the other member, a bolt adapted to extend through the aperture and into the recess, the bolt-head extending wholly within the aperture and being flush with the outer face of the arm member within which the aperture is formed, and a lock-pin within said latter arm member engaging the bolthead and locking it in position, so that the device can only be opened by breaking the same.

2. In aseal-lock, the combination of a yokeshaped body having an aperture extending through one of its arm members, anda recess formed in the other member, a round bolt extending through the aperture and into the recess, said bolt having a reduced portion circular in cross-section thereon, and a locking-pin in one of its arm members engaging the reduced portion of the bolt permitting free rotary movement of the latter but preventing endwise movement thereof.

In a seal-lock, the combination of a body provided with two complementary arm members, one of said members having an aperture extending therethrough, and a recess formed therein at substantially right angles to and extending through the aperture, a spring-impelled locking-pin arranged in the lower portion of the recess and projecting normally into the aperture, and a plug fitting within the upper portion of said recess, the complementary arm member having formed therein a lrecess registering substantially with the aperture in the other member, and a round bolt extending through the aperture and into the registering recess, said bolt having a reduced portion circular in cross-section formed therein, with which the locking-pin automatically engages to permanently lock the bolt against endwise movement after the proper engagement of the parts has been effected.

4. In a seal-lock, the combination of a yokesbaped body provided intermediate its legs or arms with a perforated enlargement and having oppositely-arranged reduced portions formed thereon immediately adjacent to said enlargement constituting points at which the lock may be broken, a plug of soft metal secured within the enlargement, a device adapted to span the opening between the arms or legs of the body and to engage each of said arms, and means for permanently locking the device to the body after its engagement with the arm members is eifected.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J OI-IN H. HARVEY.

IVit-nesses:

OTTO HERRMANN, W. S. KURCHBAUM.

IOO 

